The time has arrived: Youngsters start waking up early in the morning to go to a dance party on a weekday, more specifically: Daybreaker. And when I say early, it means very early. The party starts about 6:30 AM. Alcoholic drinks make room for juices and healthy snacks, which make you probably wondering if everyone is sober?! Yes. Sober as fuck.

A community with a strong desire for freedom

It all started early 2014 in New York City. Radha Agrawal and Matthew Brimer started a social experiment in the basement of a NYC coffee shop, where they wanted to connect a small group of people who want to make something out of live. Today it has conquered seventeen metropolitan cities worldwide, like Washington DC, Toronto, Dubai, Istanbul and Melbourne, and in my opinion it is legal to conclude they have started a true movement. Amsterdam is the next big city where Youngsters will move their body after a good night of sleep before the sun has even touched the horizon. 23 August the first edition will take place in club Nyx. Entrance tickets are available as from 21,50 euros.

To truly wake up you kick off with a one hour yoga and fitness experience, and afterwards the freestyle dance party will take place for about two hours. During these hours it is all about self-expression, mindfulness, camaraderie, wellness and mischief. Daybreaker aims to give the Youngsters the feeling to be free and move in the way they feel comfortable. Shame shouldn’t be part of this dance floor. So judging isn’t part of it as well. Obviously.

Youngsters are seeking for health and happiness

Anyway, the movement of waking up early to go to a party where everyone is sober is pretty interesting. Wellness, health and happiness have become ruling values for this generation in the past decade. For example a regular sleep cycle has become more important, because everything you do, you do better with a good night of sleep. That’s why it is less interesting for Youngsters to party until the sun comes up. Instead, the party starts when the sun starts rising.

Look for example at the Danish Hygge trend, which has become popular. Youngsters stay in during the weekend, and invite friends for home-made cakes and hot chocolate. This evening can come to an end at a reasonable time, while the bar in the city has just opened its doors. A growing number of Youngsters decide to miss that party, without regretting it. So FOMO (Fear of missing out) doesn’t play part. The desire for connectivity with likeminded people, without pretending to be someone else can be found in the Daybreaker concept as well. It is about who you are, not who others want you to be.

Form of escapism?

Fun and happiness are important ingredients in the lives of the youngsters. While the world is filled with fear, anger and horror, the desire for moments of freedom, happiness and fun are even more important. I’m not talking about fake fun, which can be found on a large scale on social media, but true fun. I’m talking about honesty, transparency and self-acceptation, which lead to true happiness. You might call this party an escapism towards a surreal world where all the uncomfortable happenings of today don’t exist for a moment, but is that a bad thing?

It has a reason that we started singing “Girls they wanna have fun” in 1983, and never stopped. Okay, you’re probably right. Guys too. But the only difference is that the fun part not only starts when the working day is done. It starts as soon as the alarm rings. Early morning.